Two Bloodied Roses
by Blinded Chubi
Summary: Miri Middleground is awoken in the night after a blackout when an old friend drops by to "visit" her after breaking free from Shinjuku Insane Asylum.


"Two Bloodied Roses" By: Isabella Tiberi

Note: This was a suspense themed story that I did for an English project a few weeks ago, and I thought I might as well post it on . Enjoy!

Author's Note: The only character I own is my original character, Miri Middleground. Beyond Birthday, L, Wammy, Matt, and Mello belong to Takeshi Obata.

Miri Middleground woke up when a loud pop crackled through her room. "What in the world was that?" she muttered drowsily, rubbing her eyes and looking around her pitch black bedroom. "Oh, darn; it must be a blackout—I _knew _the weather man said something about blackouts because of the rain!" She scowled at the darkness and fumbled around for a flashlight. "Aha!" A beam of light shot through the room, and Miri set out to search for her roommates. "Matt? Mello? Are you guys awake?" she whispered. Silence washed over the hallway she had walked into. "Why do those two idiots sleep like rocks?" she thought in annoyance. She navigated her way into the living room, and suddenly smelled something strange. The scent was sickly sweet, like blood mixed with strawberry jam.

"That smells familiar," Miri muttered. "Did Mello make something to eat again and leave it out?" As she tried to figure out what the scent was, she felt a silken voice pierce her mind. "Come now, beloved Miri," it crooned, "Surely you haven't forgotten my scent after the many years we spent together!" Miri stiffened in fear, and her eyes widened so much that it hurt her eyelids. That voice….That odd, manic, and all too familiar voice! "B-B-Beyond?" she whispered. A voice behind her let out a laugh that Miri remembered as well, and she involuntarily jumped. Her breaths became slightly higher and more ragged. She clutched her head and closed her eyes. "It's not Beyond Birthday," she insisted, "It's not Beyond Birthday. He's in Shinjuku Insane Asylum, sitting in solitary confinement. He's not here, he's not here, he's not here!"

The voice was closer to her now. "Oh, I'm afraid that you're wrong, dear Miri," it beckoned. "I grew tired of that stuffy cell and I knew that I only wanted to see you if I was going to see anyone." His voice became more playful. "You'd think my signature laugh would be enough proof for you that it's really me." A pair of hands gripped her shoulders, and she stiffened in fear, her breathing becoming increasingly more rapid until she was hyperventilating. "Would you like to hear it once more? Kukukukukukukukuku!" Miri whirled around to break free from her attacker and hit him, but as she struck behind her, she only felt air against her fist. She gasped and pulled her arm back. "Wh-What the—""I'm a little too fast for you," Beyond asked mockingly. "Dearest…." Miri felt something brush her arm, and she felt a head on her shoulders. "Miri." She screamed and tried to attack Beyond with her flashlight, but like before, once she had turned around, he was gone.

The room suddenly felt smaller to Miri, and colder. Her entire body shook with fear, and a thin layer of sweat accumulated on her thin frame. "You seem rather troubled," Beyond said simply. "Are you upset?" She frantically moved the flashlight around the room, until she saw Beyond himself, grinning madly at her. He looked the same as when he was arrested for three murders: A mop of black hair, pale and grey skin, a long and slim frame , and his eyes…His eyes were still that strange and unearthly shade of dark red. She saw him staring straight into her own eyes, and she trembled; she couldn't bear to look at him anymore! The flashlight clattered to the ground, making Beyond's visage disappear. "Leave me _alone, _Beyond!" The ground shook as Miri dashed from the living room to try and find the front door. "Matt! Mello! Somebody help me, please!" Beyond's laugh rumbled against the walls. "Kukukukukuku, those two brats aren't here," he giggled. "It's just the two of us, just like at the orphanage!" He paused and Miri felt the acidity in his voice. "Of course, we don't have L to interrupt us this time…" "What did I ever do to you?" she yelled in the darkness. "I was the only one who thought of you as an independent person at the orphanage, or do you not remember?!" As she tripped and fumbled through the dark house, bumping into tables and Matt's video game consoles, Beyond's voice felt like ice water in her mind. "Oh, I haven't forgotten," he said with sadistic glee. "I haven't forgotten…I haven't forgotten at all, darling Miri. In fact, I wanted to repay you!" Miri tripped on an armchair and fell to the ground. Her head rang, and Beyond's voice echoed in her brain as she felt her body aching with injuries from the fall.

Even though it was completely dark throughout the empty house, Miri could see a silhouette of him standing over her. "Don't you want to see the gift I gave you?" Beyond said excitedly. Miri saw something small twirling between his fingers. Her entire body was shivering with adrenaline and fright, and she tried to summon some courage. "I…..I don't want anything to do with you anymore," she spat shakily. "All I want is for y-you to go back t-t-to Shinjuku Asylum and get out of h-h-here!" A second later, she thought of something that would really shock him. "Just leave, Backup!"

Miri saw him stiffen and felt him pull her up roughly. She saw his dark red eyes widen in anger and surprise. He snarled and held her body to his own so that he could place the small object he had to her neck. "Don't you _ever _say that nickname, Miri," he hissed. "You made a promise to _never _call me that ever again!" The object glittered in his hands, and Miri clenched her hands at the feel of the knife at her neck. "No matter how close we are, you know just as well as I do that I can easily kill you without a second thought. We've been friends for so long, that I thought that you would have known that right now." The blade pressed further against her neck. "You _must _remember your promise, right, darling Miri?" She shuddered and felt her mind shift to the memory Beyond was talking about; she remembered that promise like she had made it yesterday….

******************** Winchester, England. 13 Years Ago. ****************************

_Wammy's Orphanage for Gifted Children. A facility built for young and gifted children to be nurtured intellectually, and also built with a more secretive purpose: To create the world's greatest detective to solve crimes that not even the world's governments can. It was one year after the orphanage had opened, and the owner (Quillsh Wammy) had a party planned for the first three children that had joined 'Wammy's': A young boy with messy black hair, chocolate brown eyes that had marks under them that clearly said he needed sleep, and grey-ish skin. As for all children at Wammy's, he was given a false name that everyone would call him. His name was L. A girl who had cornsilk blond hair and green eyes, who was given the codename 'Miri'. Finally, a boy who looked so much like L that they were easily mistaken for twins by those who didn't know them well. The only difference was that he had no sleep marks, and his irises were wine red. His pseudonym was 'Beyond Birthday', or 'Backup', as he was known by the staff and more children as the orphanage grew (the reason being that his I.Q. was lower than L's, but higher than Miri's, making him the second in line to be the first detective at Wammy's.)_

_An eight year old Miri walked up to her best friend Beyond, who was staying away from the rest of the partygoers. "Backup, what are you doing? Everyone's having fun over there!" she giggled. "I already got my presents, too," she added, holding up a mountain of roses: A third of them were red, a third were blue, and a third were dark black. Everyone knew that they were her favorite color of roses. She always thought that they represented L, Beyond, and herself (Black for L, red for Beyond, and blue for herself)._

_She pointed at the crowd that was fawning over L, the very first child (and in the future would be the first detective the orphanage would produce) at Wammy's. L really wasn't enjoying getting so much attention; he would have wanted to be solving new cases and crimes that Wammy gave him. Beyond glared at the crowd and pouted. "I want to just stay here and play with you, Miri," he grumbled. "Everyone else just wants L in the limelight again." She frowned in confusion and handed Beyond a bowl of his favorite food, strawberry jam. "Whatever you want, Backup," she giggled, making a mock salute._

_They watched the sun resting above them in the afternoon sky, and Beyond finally spoke, breaking their silence. "Miri?" "What?" He looked her in the eyes. "Don't call me 'Backup' ever again. __**NOBODY **__gets to call me that just because L is slightly smarter than me… It isn't fair…" Miri frowned and saw her friend about to cry, and she wrapped her small arms around him. "Okay, Beyond," she said softly. "You're not 'Backup' to me anymore." She pulled away and grinned toothily. "And who knows? Maybe one day you'll do something that L can't do!"_

"You were right, Miri," Beyond growled, sliding the knife across her cheek. "I _did _do something that L could never do." Miri shivered and shut her eyes, trying to not look at him or the blade. "Y-Y-Y-You kidnapped and murdered three people," she whimpered, remembering what L had told her last year. "I had to prove to L that I was better," he hissed. "And the only way I could surpass him after he became the first detective was to plan a crime that not even he could solve! What else could I have done?" He turned her around and shook her shoulders. "You were the only one that thought I was someone besides L's backup! You were the only one that even thought to ask me for advice on cases the three of us solved!" He looked her in the eyes, and Miri saw tears rolling down his face from his wide eyes. "You never visited me one time for the year that I was held in that filthy hole. Not once, Miri." He held the knife under her eye, and she bristled.

She shook with fear and stared at her old friend as he eyed her like a cornered animal. Everything he had said was true; everyone, even Wammy, overlooked him to some degree except for her. He was beat out by a look-alike ever since he was a child, and nobody really cared about him despite his gifts. Miri bit her lip, and nodded. "I…I know, Beyond," she murmured. "And after you got caught, I still remembered that promise. After L had you sent to Shinjuku, I repeated that promise over and over. L and I argued _every single day _for months because I wanted to visit you, and he wouldn't let me! You _have _to believe me!" He stared at her, and suddenly wrapped his arms around her. She stifled a scream and slowly put her arms around his back and patted him awkwardly; if he thought she had as much affection for him as he did her, he just might not snap and torture her to death.

A few horrifying seconds later, she heard sirens wailing from a few blocks away. They both stiffened, and Beyond took her arm. "Come on," he urged, "I have to give you your gift before I need to play with L!" Miri stiffened; 'play' with L? "What are you going to do to him?" she asked, her muscles tensing as Beyond led her to a dimly lit washroom that wasn't affected by the power outage. The sirens grew louder, and Beyond pulled her inside. Miri had her eyes shut in fear again, and she didn't dare to open her eyes to see one of Beyond's 'gifts'. The room smelled as strangely nice as the rest of the house, but also had a slight hint of something else.

Beyond opened her eyes and led her to two roses on top of the washer and dryer. He smiled cheerily and hugged her shoulders as he held the knife to her back. "Isn't it lovely, dear Miri?" he asked gleefully, his eyes wide and manic like before. Miri stared at the roses, and took in the gift: A black rose lay across from a red rose, and both of them were dewed with drops of a dark liquid. Blue rose petals were scattered around them both, but she easily noticed that most of the petals were around the red rose.

She was genuinely impressed and awed by the gift. "TH-Thank you, Beyond," she murmured, still ready for him to kill her at any moment should she say the wrong thing. He grinned at her, and she frowned at the roses. "Beyond…Beyond, is that blood on the roses?!" she cried, and he nodded eagerly. "I couldn't find anyone quick enough to get enough for them, so I used my own. See?" He held up in his hand, which had a new cut on his palm. Miri bit her lip and held her tongue to not insult him. "Oh…" She swallowed. "Well, it was quite nice."

Miri smiled wobbily, and they heard policemen knocking on the door. "Tokyo Police! Open up!" a man gruffly yelled. Beyond smiled wearily at Miri, and said simply, "I think I must go now, dear Miri. But don't worry, I'll be back before you know it!" She nodded absentedmindedly, and he ran his fingers through her blonde hair, making her bristle. "Miri?" he asked, and she resisted the urge to scream and run away. Instead, she bit her lip so hard she felt blood leak. "Wh-Wh-What is it, Beyond?" Lightly, he touched her lips, and licked his fingers to taste her blood as she bristled in fear. He looked genuinely sorry. "I'm afraid I must do one thing before I leave to make sure you don't get in trouble because of me." She frowned in confusion, and he gripped her head tightly. "You need a strong enough concussion to forget most of tonight. Goodnight, dear Miri."

The world blurred as Miri felt her head become forced against the washing machine. Her vision blurred instantly, and within seconds, she was unconscious. _**CRACK!**_

"Wah!" Miri gasped and bolted up to find herself in a hospital bed."What in the world?" A familiar grey skinned friend appeared next to her. It was L. "Good, your vitals are finally normal," he said. "The police found you unconscious and bleeding in the washroom." Miri stared at L until she was sure that his eyes were brown, not red, and she collapsed into her friend's arms. "Where are Mello and Matt? Are they okay?" she asked blearily, her voice muffled by his chest. "Yes," he said calmly in his usual monotone. "They were both unconscious and in the basement. Beyond had drugged them with chloroform before short circuiting the fuse box for your building." She sighed in relief. "Good…"

She looked around. "How long have I been unconscious?" "As of right now, 21 hours, 13 minutes, and 44 seconds," L replied. "I've been in your hospital room ever since you arrived." Miri smiled at her friend, and lay down on her pillow. "I'm just glad this mess is over and that Beyond is far, far away from me." She smiled at L. "Can you get some toast from that table over there?" He nodded silently and quickly smeared some red jam over toast and handed it to her. He asked to take her plate to a sink, and as he carried it to one with a large mirror next to it, he smiled to himself. When Miri wasn't looking, he slowly removed the colored contacts from his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror: Grinning triumphantly, with his best friend so close to him again, and his eyes were a vibrant and cheerfully insane shade of bloodred.


End file.
